Wagering apparatus, methods and systems

ABSTRACT

A system, method and apparatus provides a unique betting product where players make selections in one or more different events. Players who are in contention to win may be offered an opportunity to sell their tickets, in whole or in part, in response to a full or partial buy-out offer made at any time prior to completion of a wagering event.

BACKGROUND

There are a range of betting and lottery products in the market. Forexample, there are pure pool betting products, such as the Pick 6 horseracing product in the United States and the Scoop 6 racing product(among others) in the United Kingdom. There are also sports bettingproducts such as soccer individual games and/or pool wagering products.Pick 6 and Scoop 6 provides a six leg jackpot type bet that may alsoinclude a bonus pool and consolation prizes. The product type isrelatively successful and provides players with a chance to win a largesum by betting on six races on a given race day. Similar multiple legpool wagering is allowed for other types of racing events and multiplesports events.

In the United Kingdom, there also presently exists a free to play gameoffered by Skybet, the ‘Super 6’ whereby players are allowed to makejust one set of soccer correct score selections to try to win aguaranteed payout. The Super 6 also has some similarities to thetraditional soccer pools product but is different in that it is notpredicting draws and only six selections are necessary. Many countrieshave similar pool products where players are asked to select winners insix or seven horse or dog races and can win a share of a large pool. Inthe United States, numerous states have lotteries where players selectfor example six numbers and purchase a lottery ticket for a specificdrawing. There is also a “Mega Millions” game in which several statesparticipate in a pooled jackpot. The correct selection of all sixnumbers allows the ticket bearer to claim all or a portion of the pooledjackpot, depending on the number of winning tickets.

The traditional soccer pools products in the United Kingdom offer alarge payout if the player can select a large number of matches thatresult in a draw—particularly a score draw. Within soccer betting,correct score betting is the second most popular market after thecentral Home/Draw/Away (“H/D/A”) markets. A prominent United Kingdombased betting and gaming company recently reported that 84% of itsretail (i.e. in betting shops) soccer bets were coupon basedaccumulators. Almost 90% of those are on four-fold and above. Afour-fold is four selections, so 90% of the bets are on four selectionsand more. By comparison, in online betting, twice as many bets aresingles as is the case in betting shops, and only 55% are four-fold andabove.

Within this market segment, there is a need for new products to generateand maintain consumer interest.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed to a market gap for the creation of aunique betting product where players make selections in a number ofdifferent legs which, as defined below, can include any of a variety ofdifferent discrete events (e.g., an auto race), partial events (e.g., aninning of a baseball game, a set in tennis), components of events (e.g.,one or more at bats by a particular player in baseball game or numbersselected in a particular position in a lottery drawing), multipleindependent events (e.g., two football games that may occur sequentiallyor concurrently) and/or compilations of events (e.g., a championshipseries). Those players who correctly select all (or some predefinedportion) of the winners of each leg have an opportunity to solely obtainand/or share in the proceeds of the stakes of all the other players,less any applicable deduction to cover operating costs and/or operatorprofit, and have the opportunity to win a prize. For example, inmulti-leg event pools, prizes may include without limit a full orfractional portion of a Jackpot Pool (e.g., for all correct selections),potentially a Bonus Pool (e.g., for one additional outcome the followingweek, game, or event) and/or a possible Consolation Pool (e.g., for asubset of correct selections, or other pre-defined forms of partialcorrectness, such as, for example: did a horse place for consolation,rather than win for jackpot). As another example, if the multi-leg eventaccommodates accumulator or parlay wagering, the players that correctlyselect the outcomes of each leg (or any other number of designated legs,for instance) have an opportunity to solely obtain and/or share one ormore prizes.

In either case, if no player selects a correct winning combination ofresults, as one example, the amounts staked available to win may becarried forward until a next betting cycle, for example the next week,and may be available to win by anyone selecting a correct combination ofoutcomes, or alternatively all or any portion of the amounts stakedavailable to win may be retained by an operator or other designatedentity. As should be understood, although not explicitly disclosedherein, there are many other outcome for how the amounts stakedavailable to win may be handled and/or disposed of, and should beconsidered incorporated herein.

However, to ensure that a significant prize is available in the firstcycle or first week or after a prize is claimed, in one example it iscontemplated that there may be an operator guaranteed amount availableto win each time the games are played, at least until significantreserves have been built up.

Notably, various implementations may be betting scenarios oralternatively in other implementations players may choose to play justfor fun, where no stakes are actually wagered. A unique differentiatorof the product of the present disclosure may be that at any desired timeafter initiation of an event (such as at any time after a “ticket” ispurchased until completion of an event, after each leg has beencompleted, between legs, including potentially as a leg is “in-play”,and/or during a designated span of time before, during and/or after anyof the legs), any desired number of players who remain eligible for aprize (and potentially those still eligible for bonus and/or consolationprizes) or to win or have correct (win) predictions for each of theevents or legs that are completed, may be offered a “buy-out” or anopportunity to sell their tickets (in whole or alternatively may be inpart (i.e., a fractional amount) to the game operator or through thegame operator (or alternatively directly) to a third party (e.g., one ormore system operator(s), business entity or entities such as amerchant(s), one or more other persons, other player(s), etc.). Thus,for example, the game operator (or any other entity) may offer theplayer a fractional amount of the potential Jackpot Pool to buy theticket for the still pending game(s) and thereby provide the player theopportunity to cash in and avoid the risk of being eliminated on a laterleg or the final event. In other examples, a ticket held by players maybe comprised of one or more divisions, and the buy-out offer or sale mayinvolve just certain divisions of the ticket, so that those divisionsare sold but the player retains ownership of the remaining divisions ofthe ticket. In yet another example, a ticket held by a player mayinclude an accumulator or parlay wager, in which case the player mayreceive (or initiate) a buy-out offer or sale for a fractional amount ofa prize (e.g., a jackpot), and which may occur at any time, such asbefore, during and/or after any of the legs specified by the wager havebeen completed.

In addition to the Jackpot Pool or final Jackpot, there are other poolsthat could form part of the pool game. Part of the amount staked couldbe reserved to provide one or more Consolation Pool(s) which may be wonby those who correctly select a portion of the correct outcomes oranother consolation scenario. As an example, a player may be eligiblefor a Consolation Pool by selecting “any 5” of a Breeder's Cup Pick 6pool, 5 of 7 such as V75 (a Swedish multi-leg pool bet based on thesport of ‘trotting’), or every selection “placed” in the event everyselection did not win, as is the consolations in the UK scoop6. Inaddition, another part of the amount staked could be reserved to providea Bonus Pool which will be available to winners of the main pool, ifthey are able to select additional outcomes after they have successfullywon the Jackpot Pool. In addition, the players that correctly select thewinners of any number of legs can also win one or more interim Jackpotsthat occurs prior to completion of the event. Thus, the amount stakedfor the various interim Jackpots would be different than the finalJackpot, which occurs where there is a winner(s) of the last leg thatoccurs at the end of the event. When either of these pools are offered,any purchaser of a ticket such as the operator discussed above wouldbecome the owner of the rights in the ticket with respect to theopportunity to win the Consolation Pool(s), interim Jackpot(s) or BonusPool,

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a wagering system hardware andnetwork connected to various wagering stations or wagering terminals andother devices which may be used in accordance with an aspect of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a more detailed schematic representation of the wageringsystem hardware and network that controls the operation of the system ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the functional architecture of a programfor the wagering system hardware of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a table depicting goal expectancy for six years across themain soccer leagues and the World Cup.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary flow chart of the logic of the softwaresubroutine program of the central server system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure is directed to a new betting product developedfor a wide range of applications, including any event where betting maybe utilized or even scenarios where play is just for fun, such as, andwithout limitation, any type of actual or virtual sporting event or anytype of game; for instance, one implementation may apply to the mostglobally bet upon sport in the world, soccer and specifically UnitedKingdom Premier League soccer. The concept, however, has more widespreadapplications and potential appeal, and thus it may be applied to othertypes of sporting events (i.e., American football, horse racing, carracing, hockey, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, wrestling, just as a fewexamples) as well as being expanded to other events such as games (bothvirtual and real), including but not limited to, virtual and real cardgames (e.g., jacks, poker, blackjack, Texas hold 'em, etc.), lotteries,racing, slot machines and other multi-leg/multi-events/multi-outcome ordivisible games (such as games or sets in tennis, innings in baseball,etc.), or any combinations of desired events. Further, the bettingproduct of the present disclosure is suitable for “betting for fun,”which is betting with no actual stakes at risk.

FIG. 1 is a schematic of an exemplary wagering system hardware andnetwork that will be used herein to describe and illustrate oneimplementation of the present disclosure. The system includes a network,including a system controller, for example, such as based on a centralserver system 12 being interconnected through the internet 10 to aplurality of wager input devices such as wagering stations 14, wageringterminals (including self-service wagering terminals) 16, and internetconnected computing systems 18, smart phones 20, tablet computers 22 andtelevisions 24 each of which is representative of a plurality of eachtype of wager input device (e.g. wagering stations 14A-N). As should beunderstood the term “system controller” should be broadly construed tocomprise any hardware device or devices that includes at least onecentral processing unit (CPU) or other processing device and associatedmemory. As will also be discussed below, the concepts herein may also beapplied to gaming machines, so gaming machine 26 is depicted as anadditional input device to the central server system 12 in FIG. 1. Theterm “leg” as used herein should be broadly construed and may compriseany desired number of individual components of any type of event, suchas any type of game or sporting event. For example, and withoutlimitation, a leg may comprise a sporting event in its entirety, such asa soccer game, American football game, horse race, car race, hockeygame, baseball game, basketball game, lacrosse game, wrestling match,etc., any portion of a sporting event, such as an inning of baseball, ahalf of a soccer game, a single horse race, a quarter of an Americanfootball game, a single wrestling match, etc., an occurrence within anevent or game, such as a particular player scoring a goal (e.g., inhockey or soccer) or a particular player getting a hit in a baseballgame, or a combination of games or events such as the World Series inbaseball or any other sports playoff series. In addition, as an exampleand without limitation, a leg may comprise any desired number ofindividual components of any game or a game in its entirety, virtual andreal, such as, for instance, and without limitation, keno, jacks, poker,blackjack, Texas hold 'em, racing, video games (including live andonline video games, as examples), slot machines and lotteries, etc. Asone example, with respect to slot machines, a separate leg maycorrespond to each reel (whether virtual or mechanical), or anyparticular number or designated reels, of the slot machine. As anotherexample, with respect to a lottery, a separate leg may correspond toeach item, or any particular number or designated items, used todetermine who may have won a given lottery, such as numbered balls. Asanother example, with respect to a card game (e.g., whether virtual ormechanical, etc.), a separate leg may correspond to each card, or anyparticular number or designated cards, that are played in a given cardgame. As should be understood, however, the amount and nature of theindividual components that comprises a leg may vary widely in a givenapplication as may be desired, such as ranging anywhere from one (i.e.,an entire event) to a plurality of individual components (i.e., parts ofan event, such as reels of a slot machine, numbers in a lottery, cardsin a card game, portions of a game or sporting event, etc.).

The wager stations 14 and wagering terminals 16 of FIG. 1 are depictedin an exemplary only embodiments, but as known in the art they mayinclude a support structure, housing or cabinet which provides supportfor a plurality of displays, inputs, controls and other features of aconventional wager terminal. The wagering stations 14 may be configuredso that users can be the party placing a wager, while the wageringterminals 16 may be configured for an operator at a commercial locationsuch as a store or betting facility. The wager stations 14 and wageringterminals 16 may be positioned on a base or stand or can be configuredas a table-top which a user can operate preferably while sitting. Thewagering stations 14 and wagering terminals 16 may further include adevice for accepting a monetary value associated with a wager whereinthe device may include, for example, a coin collector, a bill collectoror a card reader. The wagering stations 14 and wagering terminals 16 mayfurther include one or more of a display, a card reader/writer and/or aticket and/or voucher printer to visually display, store on a cardand/or a player account(s), and/or print wager receipts and potentiallyvouchers representing cash-out values and successful play awards (e.g.,an “award” or “awards” as defined herein shall be broadly construed andshall include, without limitation, a designated currency, virtualcurrency, tokens, credits, coupons, services, personal or real property,virtual property, assets, investments, negotiable instruments (such aschecks), commodities, food, lodging, entertainment, alleviation ofobligations, gaming opportunities, wager enhancement and/or any otherbenefit(s) or portions thereof that may be provided or otherwise offeredto a player). The wagering stations 14 and wagering terminals 16 mayalso include a ticket or voucher reader and/or a dispenser fordispensing a monetary amount, such as, without limitation, cash, virtualcurrency and/or tokens, etc. For example, the ticket or voucher readermay be adapted to read and allocate credits or other value associatedwith a ticket or voucher to one or more players and/or player accounts.The bill collector, ticket or voucher reader and dispenser may beseparate or integrated into a single sub-unit.

The wager stations 14 and wagering terminals 16 preferably include atleast one processor, such as a microprocessor, a microcontroller-basedplatform, a suitable integrated circuit or one or moreapplication-specific integrated circuits (ASIC's). The processor is incommunication with or operable to access or to exchange signals with atleast one data storage or memory device. The processor and the memorydevice reside within the cabinet. The memory device stores program codeand instructions, executable by the processor, to control the wagerstations 14 and wagering terminals 16 and communicate with the centralserver system 12. The memory device also stores other data such as imagedata, event data, user input data, ticket tracking assignmentgenerators, pay-table data or information and applicable rules thatrelate to the operation of the wager stations 14 and wagering terminals16 and the particular type of buy-out method and process describedherein.

It is also contemplated that an operator or a player can use a computingsystem 18, such as a desktop computer, a laptop personal computer, apersonal digital assistant (PDA) or smartphone 20, portable tabletcomputing device 22, or other computerized platform or interactiveweb-enabled television 24 to access the central server system 12 via anetwork, internet or intranet, so as to initiate a wager and access thecollective wagering pool. In this implementation, it is contemplated theusers' devices would also receive messages and the buy-out offersdiscussed below from the pool operator via the central server system 12,so that the individual user could participate in the wagering system andbuy-back option via the user's connected device.

It is contemplated that the wager stations 14, wager terminals 16 and/orpersonal computing systems 18, as well as the smart phones 20, tabletcomputers 22 and televisions 24 disclosed herein may be operable over awired or wireless network, such as part of a wired or wireless wageringsystem. In this embodiment, the computing systems 18 may be a hand helddevice, a mobile device or any other suitable wireless device thatenables a user to participate in the pooled wagering system at anysuitable location. It is contemplated that the computing systems 18 orat least the server system as disclosed herein may be a device that hasobtained approval from a regulatory agency or commission or a devicethat has not obtained or require approval from a regulatory agency orcommission. FIG. 2 is a more detailed schematic representation of thewagering system hardware of the central server system 12 that controlsthe operation of the system of FIG. 1. The central server system 12 mayinclude one or more rack mounted server computers 120 each with at leastone central processing unit (CPU) or other processing device andassociated memory. As an example only, the rack mounted server computers120 of FIG. 2 may be PowerEdge R420 Rack Chassis devices having a 300 GBhard drive, one or two Intel Xeon E5-2450 processors, 24 GB memorieswith RAID connectivity using a RAID controller card. One or more of thecomputers 120 may also include an input device, an output device and adriver for a display device. The computers 120 within the central serversystem 12 are shown as being hardwired to each other and to theinternet, but the respective computers or portions of the network mayinclude either wired and/or wireless connectivity to the internet, to anintranet or an alternative networked communication system, such as, forexample and without limitation, a cloud-based system, an autonomicsystem, a client-server based system, a grid based system, a mainframebased system, a utility based system, a peer-to-peer based system, acloud gaming based system, or any other suitable types of systemarchitectures, topographies or configurations.

In addition to the respective computers 120, the central server systemas depicted in FIG. 2 includes one or more, and in this example, twonetwork switches 122 and two firewall devices 124. The network switches122 may for example be Hewlett Packard model 2510-48G Switches and thefirewall devices 124 may be Cisco Model ASA 5520 firewalls andassociated software. As illustrated, the firewall devices 124 areinterconnected to each other and to the internet, and each firewalldevice 124 is also connected to one of the network switches 122.

The network switches 122 are connected to the respective computers 120,which as shown may be divided into logical functions to control certainaspects of the operation of the wagering system which may be bestunderstood in connection with the block diagram of the functionalarchitecture of the program for the wagering system illustrated in FIG.3. In FIG. 2, there may be provided a redundancy for the respectivecomputers 120 such that as shown there are two computers 120 for each ofthe tasks, and the redundant computers 120 are interconnected.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, there are five pairs of computers depictedinterconnected through a bus, and through the bus to switches 122. Thefive pairs include computers 120A, associated with the web interface andconnectivity, computers 120B associated with the Mid-Tier program,computers 120C for a database, computers 120C for a Tote program andcomputers 120E providing the management interface for the central serversystem, all as described in more detail below in connection with FIG. 3.The computers 120E are shown including a workstation 126 including aninput device such as a keyboard and an output or display device such asa monitor. Also, the respective computers need not be located in thesame facility, thus for example the computers 120D providing the Totefunctionality may be remote from the computers 120B providing theMid-Tier functionality.

The central server system 12 of FIGS. 1 and 2 may include softwareprograms for wagering software functionality such as registration,deposit taking, withdrawals, account sections that may include currentand previous bet histories, fixtures, results, historical data, rulesand regulations. These types of software programs having thesefunctionalities are in place in various totalizer facilities and arethus known in the art. However, FIG. 3 is provided to further illustratethe process steps of the program and operation of the central serversystem 12 associated with the pool wagering system contemplated by thepresent disclosure. The program for the known functionality of atotalizer facility noted above would be incorporated in the Micro Tote408 program, as discussed further below.

FIG. 3 represents an exemplary functional architecture of a programhosted or supported by the central server system 12. The core program isrepresented by the center block identified as the “Mid Tier” program402. The Mid Tier program 402 interacts with the respective customer andwebsite administrator input programs in the left side block identifiedas the Website program 404, as well as the accounting programs in theright side block identified as the Micro Tote program 408. The Mid Tierprogram 402 communicates using an “Application Program Interface”hereinafter “API,” allowing bi-directional communication to, andthrough, the Mid Tier program 402, as represented by the Merchant API406 as between the Website program 404 and the Mid Tier program 402, andthe Tote API 410 as between the Micro Tote program 408 and the Mid Tierprogram 402, reference lines.

The Mid Tier program 402, as shown in FIG. 3, may include a Merchant API420 program, a Cash-in 422 program and an Administration 424 program. Itis contemplated that the Mid Tier program 402 may be itself a dedicatedstand-alone server system and program for hosting the pool basedwagering system of the present disclosure, or the subroutines unique tothe pool based wagering system of the present disclosure may be added toa server system and program that also hosts other types of wageringpools.

As depicted in the Merchant API 420 program box, there may be severalHTTP POST request sub-routines including a Place Bet POST 430, TicketEnquiry POST 432, Available offers POST 434, Accept Offer POST 436,Decline Offer POST 438. The Place Bet POST 430 routine is used to placea bet on the Operator system. The Ticket Enquiry POST 432 routine isused to confirm that a ticket has been sold on the Operator system. TheAvailable offers POST 434 routine is used to determine what bet tradingoffers are currently available to the customer. The Accept Offer POST436 routine is used to accept an offer. The Decline Offer POST 438routine is used to decline an offer.

As depicted in the Merchant API 420 program box, the system may generateseveral file updates including a Competition Summary FILE 440, aCompetition Detail FILE 442, a Pool Change FILE 444, a Fixture ChangeFILE 446, a Competition Change FILE 448 and a Ticket Payouts FILE 450.The Competition Summary FILE 440 routine holds a summary list of theavailable competitions It is updated when new competitions are added,old ones are deleted, or when the status or current fixture changes. TheCompetition Detail FILE 442 routine holds details about the competition.The Pool Change FILE 444 routine holds details on pool-level informationchanges on a competition. The Fixture Change FILE 446 routine holdsdetails when fixture-level changes on a competition. The CompetitionChange FILE 448 routine holds details when competition-level informationchanges. The Ticket Payouts FILE 450 routine holds details for each poolas its status becomes official.

The Mid Tier program 402, as shown in FIG. 3, includes most criticallythe Cash-In 422 program, which itself may include the Offers Generation452 routine, the Offers 454 routine and the Tickets 456 routine. TheCash-In 422 program is responsible for determining when an offer tobuy-out a ticket holder will be made, and the price that will beoffered. Within the Cash-In 422 program, the Offers Generation 452routine is the trading engine that, when triggered, will generate a setof offers over all of the tickets that are still potential winners andthen publish the offers and receive/process the acceptance of theseoffers via the Merchant API 420. The Offers 454 routine stores all theoffer made, accepted and declined. The Tickets 456 routine stores allthe tickets for a pool and who the rightful owner is. Further, the MidTier program 402, as also shown in FIG. 3, may include theAdministration 424 program, which itself may include a Create ReadUpdate Delete (CRUD) Merchants 460 routine, Trading Risk Management 462routine, Stop Trading 464 routine, Reporting 466 routine, Probabilities468 routine and Random Number Generator (RNG) Logic 470 routine. TheMerchants 460 routine is to create, read, update and delete third partyMerchant details within the Mid Tier. The Trading Risk Management 462routine is to allow the control and monitoring of cash-in trading. TheStop Trading 464 routine is to allow cash-in trading to be stopped ifrequired. The Reporting 466 routine is for calculating and reporting onsettlement with Merchant systems. The Probabilities 468 routine is forthe uploading of probabilities used in the trading calculations. The RNGLogic 470 routine is use for QuickPick bets.

Traditional quick picks generally allocate selections to people eitherrandomly as prevalent in lotteries (where each number has equalprobability of being drawn), or in-line with some estimatedprobabilities such as horse racing (or other event where outcomes do nothave equal probability or prospects). It is intended that quick picks inthe initial iterations of these games may or may not be in fact SMARTPICKS, in that a quick pick will only be allocated to the client if ithas a relatively realistic chance of providing the winning outcome andin a relative sense to the size of the pool (which may be fixed orvariable (e.g., based on the public spend) or guarantee. For example, inthe seven leg correct score game, some outcomes are less than 1million-to-one, where other outcomes are greater than 1 trillion-to-one.The smart pick will not allocate a quick pick ticket to a client unlessit is within a certain multiple of the pool size, say five times. Assuch, when the pool is £5 million, all £1 quick picks (smart picks) willonly be allocated to clients wanting a quick pick (smart pick), if theyare less than 25 million-to-one. The reason for this smart pickadjustment is to ensure that smart pick players are not grosslydisadvantaged by being allocated a random ticket with potentially veryminimal probability of success, especially in reactions to the poolsize.

In an alternate embodiment, the probability of generating a particularquick picks (smart picks) ticket may be proportional to the probabilityof each outcome winning in addition to the smart picks caps describedabove. Other implementations with respect to QuickPicks/SMART PICKS thatare commercially known and not described herein may also be utilized asdesired.

Now referring to the left side block of FIG. 3, the Website program 404may be represented as including subprograms for a user interface 480representing a dedicated website on which wagers may be entered forexample by a customer using a personal computer or alternatively awagering terminal as discussed above. Once logged into the website, theuser interface 480 provides a registration and login routine 482, anaccount funding routine 484, a player protection routine 486 and abetting interface routine 488. The user interface 480 also provides aroutine to allow interconnection with a payment provider 490, forexample WORLDPAY®, providing a secure method by which payments forwagers may be submitted. The user interface 480 may also provideroutines to provide a customer ledger 492, customer statements 494 andcurrency exchange rate calculator 496.

As an alternative to the customer using a dedicated website, it iscontemplated that the users could interact with a Merchant Microsite500, representing for example an established betting house or parlorhaving its own customer base and methods of collecting wagers and payingdisbursements from and to players. These types of Merchant Microsites500 would be provided with their own Merchant API 406 for communicatingwith the server hosting the Mid Tier 402 program. The MerchantMicrosites 500 include routines for single sign on 502 to the wageringpool and a payment API 504 to assist in the respective accountingfunctions as between the operator of the Merchant Microsite 500 and thehost of the pool wagering system hosted on the central server system 12.

As also reflected in the Website program 404, the Administrative (Admin)Console 510 routine is provided to manage the User Interface 480. TheAdmin Console 510 routine, operated by the website administrator, mayinclude an Account Management 512 routine for managing customer accountdetails, a Payment Reconciliation 514 routine for administration ofcustomer deposits and withdrawals with a payment provider likeWORLDPAY®, a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) 516 routine formanaging sales, marketing and customer service interactions withcustomers and a Content Management System (CMS) 518 routine for thecreation, editing and publishing on content on the Website 404.

Now referring to the right side block of FIG. 3, the Micro Tote 408routine is the program equivalent to a “Totalisator” which receives,calculates and provides a display output for all bets made in a givenprogressive pool bet system. The Micro Tote 408 routine may thus includea Gateway 520 program, a Memory Grid 522 program, a Central Repository524 program and an Administration 526 program. The Gateway 520 programincludes a routine posting the wagering card 530, summing all of thewagering 532, providing updates 534, and calculating each potentialpayout 536. The Gateway 520 program also includes a routine for poolingand accumulating all of the Gateway Tickets 538, which is the masterroutine for each bet that has been placed and accepted in the pool.

Also within the Micro Tote 408 is a Memory Grid 522 program thatincludes a Pool Collations 540 routine. The Pool Collations 540 routinecalculates and continuously recalculates the odds as each bet is placedand accepted, and as each event result occurs within the pool, so as todetermine the odds with respect to each remaining active ticket withinthe pool bet. The odds and all information calculated by the PoolCollations 540 routine is routed through the Tote API 410 to theMid-Tier 402, and specifically to the Merchant API 420, Cash-in 422 andAdministration 424 routines.

Also within the Micro Tote 408 is a Central Repository 524 program thatincludes a Ticket History 542 routine. The Ticket History 542 routineretains a complete record of each bet placed, each respective ticket,all payouts, and all unpaid credits for all of the respective pools. Theinformation within the Ticket History 542 routine may be maintainedprimarily for the benefit of regulators and/or oversight organizationsand taxing agencies.

Finally, the Micro Tote 408 may also include an Administration 526program that includes routines for Message Queue 544 which is forinter-process communications within the Micro Tote, Create Read UpdateDelete (CRUD) Wager Card 546 is for setting up the event informationthat will be wagered on, Manual Events 548 is for manually managingupdates to events, CRUD Merchants 550 is for create, read, update anddelete third party Merchant information on the Micro Tote, reports 552is for settlement reports for the Micro Tote and Data Feeds 554 is forthird party event feeds.

With respect to the software programs of FIG. 3, and with respect to therespective computers of FIG. 2, computers 120A drive the consumerwebsites 480, merchant microsites 500 and the website administrationconsole 510, computers 120B host the main Mid-Tier program for drivingthe merchant API 420, cash-in 422 and mid-tier administration console424, computers 120C host the program for physically maintaining theCustomer Ledger database 492, computers 120D host the program forphysically maintaining the Tote 408 that consists of Gateway 520, MemoryGrid 522, Central Repository 524 and Tote administration console 526,and computers 120E host the program providing the physical managementinterface for the entire interrelated system software.

For the wagering and option buy-out system of the present disclosure,the central server system 12 is programmed to provide to the wagerstations 14, wager terminals 16 or personal devices 18, 20, 22 or 24various options for placing wagers on one or more (e.g. a sequence ofand/or separate discrete) sporting events spread over an appropriateinterval. The wager stations 14, wager terminals 16 or personalcomputing systems 18 would allow a player to place a wager on a seriesof (or separate discrete) sporting events, for example three to eightsoccer matches scheduled to occur over a three day period. The playerwould select the winners, or in some embodiments the particular scoresof the matches (or any other variables), for each particular sportingevent within a defined cumulated pool or other. The player would receiveeither a printed ticket or an electronic ticket representing theselections and the amount of the bet. The controller or server system 12would maintain the pool, assign tracking identifiers to each wager andticket placed into the pool, and determine any payout requirements fromthe pooled wagers in the event of a successful selection of all of theevents.

The wager stations 14 and wager terminals 16 may include one or moredisplay devices controlled by the processor. The display devices may beconnected to or mounted to the cabinet of the wager terminal. Theembodiments as generally illustrated in FIG. 1 may include, as known inthe art, a display device which displays the betting options. Thisdisplay device may also display any suitable secondary informationassociated with the pool wagering system. The wager stations 14 andwager terminals 16 may include a credit display which displays aplayer's current number of credits, cash, account balance or theequivalent. In one embodiment, wager terminal includes a bet displaywhich displays a player's amount wagered. The wager stations 14 andwager terminals 16 may include, without limitation, a monitor, atelevision display, a plasma display, a liquid crystal display (LCD) adisplay based on light emitting diodes (LED), a display based on aplurality of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), a display based onpolymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs), a display based on a plurality ofsurface-conduction electron-emitters (SEDs), a display including aprojected and/or reflected image or any other suitable electronic deviceor display mechanism. In one embodiment, as described in more detailbelow, the display device includes a touch-screen with an associatedtouch-screen controller. The display devices may be of any suitable sizeand configuration, such as a square, a rectangle or an elongatedrectangle. The wager stations 14 and wager terminals 16 may be any sortof integrated products or stand alone terminals or devices, such as, forinstance and without limitation, one for a casino or betting shop, suchas in the nature of a fixed odds betting terminal (“FOBT”) or a BestGaming Technology (“BGT”) Self service terminal, as examples. Any othersuitable types of products or devices commercially known may also beutilized where desired and in accordance with the needs of a particularimplementation.

The wager stations 14 and wager terminals 16 also may include at leastone payment acceptor in communication with the processor. The paymentacceptor may include a coin slot and/or a payment, note or billacceptor, as examples, where the player inserts money, coins or tokens.The player can place coins in the coin slot or paper money (e.g., thecoins or paper money may include actual and/or virtual currency), aticket or voucher into the payment, note or bill acceptor. In otheralternatives, devices such as readers or validators for credit cards,debit cards, credit slips or the like may accept payment. A player mayinsert an identification card into a card reader of the wager stations14 and wager terminals 16. The identification card may be a smart cardhaving a programmed microchip or a magnetic strip coded with a player'sidentification, credit totals (or related data) and other relevantinformation. A player may carry a portable device, such as a cell phone,a radio frequency identification tag or any other suitable wirelessdevice, which communicates a player's identification, credit totals (orrelated data) and other relevant information to the wager stations 14and wager terminals 16. Money may be transferred to a wager station 14or wager terminal 16 through electronic funds transfer. When a playerfunds the wager station 14 or wager terminal 16, the processordetermines the amount of funds entered and displays the correspondingamount on the credit display or other suitable display. As should beunderstood, where the term “money” or reference to some form of funds ismade herein, both actual currencies and virtual currencies would equallybe captured by this term.

In one embodiment, the wager stations 14 and wager terminals 16 mayfurther be configured to: read the receipt of a purchased ticket, make abuy back offer on the ticket, accept that buy back offer, print a ticketfor the cashed-in value, print another ticket, and/or adapt the firstticket so the client has a record his ticket is now partially owned byhim.

The wager stations 14 and wager terminals 16 may include at least oneand preferably a plurality of input devices in communication with theprocessor. The input devices can include any suitable device whichenables the player to produce an input signal which is received by theprocessor. After appropriate funding of the wager station 14 or wagerterminal 16 the input device is a game selection device or a game playbutton which is used by the player to identify the selected outcome ofeach of the games/matches/legs of the pool wager on the wager station 14or wager terminal 16.

As this first embodiment of a pool bet system is premised on betting ofsporting events, the server has an input device 26 allowing an operatorto enter the results of the sporting events, the winners of the matchesor games, the final scores and/or other parameters such as the totalscore of the game or the point differential. It is contemplated thatthis information will be entered reasonably promptly following thecompletion, and if required certification, of the sporting event. Withthe results of the sporting events for a first sequence of events, thesystem will make a determination as to whether any individual wagersrecorded in the system have correctly selected the winners (or pointspread etc.) of the sporting events.

After some percentage, such as a majority, of the sporting events haveoccurred, the server system 12 may be configured to identify theremaining potential winning ticket or tickets for the Jackpot Pool,i.e., those tickets that have correctly selected each of the results(win or consolation) of the events of the completed legs, or remaineligible for the consolation prize for selecting a certain percentage ofthe actual winners (i.e., 6 of the 8 winners). Upon determining thenumber of remaining potential winners of the Jackpot Pool, the systemwill determine the likelihood of each ticket winning the Jackpot Pool(alone or shared with other players, which may be known or modeled), andon that basis make a determination as to the attributed value of theticket based on its respective probability of winning the Jackpot Pool(and the prize if split multiple ways). The server system 12 then makesthe determination of what the appropriate value would be for a ticket inorder to make an offer to buy-out to one or more players (as disclosedherein, in other examples one or more other sources may also be used inaddition to, or as an alternative to, the server system 12 fordetermining the appropriate value). In one example, the buy-out offer isfor buying an entire ticket from a player (i.e., 100%) for an indicatedvalue. As should be understood, the buy-out offer may be for any desiredpercentage of a ticket (i.e., any percentage between 0%-100%). Theplayer presented with the buy-out offer may decide if it will sell theticket at the indicated value, not sell at all and retain 100% of theticket and/or make a counter offer (i.e., such as a different percentageamount and/or a different value, etc.), as examples. If the buy-outoffer is accepted, the player will receive the indicated value (whichmay occur in a variety of different ways as described herein). Incertain examples, when a buy-out offer is accepted, the entity thatinitiated the buy-out offer will in return obtain legal ownership of theticket from the player. In certain other examples, the entity thatinitiated the buy-out offer will not obtain legal ownership of theticket, but merely obtain an entitlement (e.g., a contract) to obtainall or any portion of any future Jackpots, awards or other prizes, etc.(i.e., depending on the ticket percentage related to the buy-out offer)that may occur in connection with the ticket from the point of purchasemoving forward. In certain other examples, the player may also have theoption to offer (i.e., counter offer) or sell something different thanthe original buy-out offer, such as just a portion of a ticket inresponse to a buy-out offer. As an example, and without limitation,depending on how a desired system is set up, the player may have theoption to provide a counter offer for consideration by the entity thatinitiated the buy-out offer (e.g., something different than the originalbuy-out offer, such as a different percentage of a ticket and/or adifferent designated amount for the value, etc.), and with the entitybeing able to accept the counter offer (or alternatively where set up inthis manner, to otherwise deny or provide yet another counter offer backto the player, etc.). Similarly, where desired, rather than the entityproviding the acceptance, the entity may merely provide an indication tothe player that is agreeable to the terms and/or provide to the player anew buy-out offer along the lines of the counter offer, which may thenbe accepted by the player. However, it should be understood that this ismerely a matter of logistics for how acceptance is to be made to acounter offer (either by the entity or player), but both approaches willaccomplish the same objectives and may be utilized where desired. Inaddition to, or alternatively, depending on how a system is structured,the player may have the ability to sell something different directly inresponse to a buy-out offer, such as a different percentage of a ticket.As an example, and without limitation, in response to a buy-out offerfor 100% of a ticket, a player may sell only 50% rather than 100% of aticket, and the amount paid to the player would then be similarlyreduced, such as being reduced proportionately by 50%, or alternativelyreduced less than 50% if a premium was associated with the 100% buy-outoffer, or any other desired amount depending on how a system is desiredto be structured. As should be understood, and without limitation, aplayer may offer or sell in response to a buy-out offer any differentpercentage of the ticket in return for a percentage of the indicatedvalue. The percentage of the indicated value may also vary as may bedesired based on the percentage of the ticket offered or sold. Forexample, in certain situations, partial cash-in of a ticket may beproportionate to the ticket's full value, while in other situationspartial cash-in of the ticket may not be proportionate with the ticket'sfull value, as the operator may want to incentivize certain behaviorsaround cash-in, according to particular preferences of the operator. Inone example, sale of 50% of a ticket may correspond to 50% of theindicated value of a ticket. In another example, a certain defined“premium” may also be allocated against the player for a sale of lessthan 100% ownership of a ticket; for instance, sale of 50% of a ticketmay correspond to payment of only 45% of the indicated value (with thepremium corresponding to 5%), although as should be understood, theamount of the premium can vary and/or may also be adjusted based on theamount of the ticket sold, as may be desired (i.e., a lower premium thegreater the amount of the ticket sold and the higher the premium thelower the percentage of the ticket sold). The premium may also vary, onthe value sold or the proximity to the end of the game, as examples, andit would be expected that large sums and closer to the end of the gametickets would attract the biggest premium, as users should be less pricesensitive.

In yet another example, where a player sells 100% of a ticket, theywould receive in return the indicated value together with a “bonus” forselling 100% ownership of the ticket, and that bonus may be set at anydesired value, such as a certain percentage of the indicated value ofthe ticket. In yet other examples, the buy-out offer may be for buyingall or a portion of a ticket from a player. In another example, a playermay receive a bonus for a partial-cash in, should there be a desire toincentivize a player to sell less than 100% of a ticket. Othervariations are also possible according to the preferences at issue. Invarious examples, the buy-out offer may be initiated from any type ofentity. For example, the entity could correspond to one or more partiesof any type. This may include, for example, a private party or partiesworking in collaboration and/or a government or quasi-governmentalparty, etc. For instance, and without limitation, the party or partiesmay be the operator(s) of the network or just user(s) of the network.

By way of example, upon presentation of the ticket to one of the wagerstations 14 or wager terminals 16, the ticket will be verified and thesystem will present the offer to purchase the whole ticket will bedisplayed on the display devices, and the player will have the option toaccept or reject the offer via an input to the wager station 14 or wagerterminal 16. The player can also respond, or alternatively be presentedwith the option, to sell any fraction of a ticket he/she wishes to sellthrough the wager station 14 or wager terminal 16. The player may alsobe able to respond, or offered the option of selling different fractionsof the ticket at different stages or after respective legs of the poolevent. For example the player may sell 10% after fourth leg, another 20%after the fifth leg and 30% after the sixth leg, thereby still retaining40% of the original ticket to the conclusion of the game after theseventh leg.

As another example, if after 5 matches (or legs) of a 6 match pool thereare 3 remaining tickets that have correctly identified the outcomes ofthe first five matches (or legs), and all having an equal chance ofwinning the $1 million Jackpot Pool, then the server system 12 maycalculate that each ticket has an actual value of $100,000. This wouldbe the case if each person held an outcome in isolation of the other twotickets, and then the probability of each of the three owned outcomeswas 10% or a price of 10.0 in decimal terms. Upon application of a riskfactor and/or margin discount, the server system 12 would establish anattributed value and then communicate an offer to purchase therespective tickets to each of the ticket holders, at a price of forexample $80,000 for each ticket, representing a 20% margin for thepurchaser. The offered amount would represent a substantial return on a$2 ticket, and removing significant volatility for the player, that wasone step from winning $1,000,000 but also one step from winning nothing.The offer may be for 100% of the ticket, or alternatively could be for apartial portion of the ticket, for example an equal fifty percent share,at $40,000. In this option, it is contemplated that various percentageoffers could be made, for example any 10% interval from 10% to 90%, atan appropriate monetary amount. Thus, the player in the above examplecould sell 10% of the ticket for $8,000 and retain the potential ofreceiving 90% of the $1,000,000 Jackpot Pool.

It is also contemplated that the server system 12 will have the abilityto receive additional data via the input device 26, for example variousodds on respective wagers concerning the sporting match or event, thatmay impact the attributed value calculated for any given ticket. Thatadditional information could be used to calculate with greater precisionthe potential odds, and attributed value, of the remaining tickets aftereach round or leg of the pool. Thus, in the example above, if one of theremaining 3 potentially winning tickets has predicted the final score ofthe final soccer match as 2-1, while another has selected the finalscore as being 1-10, then the more likely score of 2-1 will have ahigher attributed value than the ticket having selected 1-10. In thatevent, the ticket holder of the 2-1 score match may be offered more, asthat ticket's attributed value (or expected value in mathematicalprobability terms) will be higher.

To further explain the example, the outcome probability factor (OPF) andthe Expected Value (EV) of two respective tickets with the followingscore predictions may be set as:

2-1 price (OPF?)=10.0, and1-10 price (OPF?)=1000 (as it is an unrealistic score but useful forthis example), withEV=1,000,000 (POOL)/Price of outcome/number of tickets holding thatoutcome.

Therefore, the ticket with the score of the final leg being 2-1 willhave an estimated value in a $1,000,000 pool calculated as1000000/10/1=$100,000 while the ticket with the score of the final legbeing 1-10 will have an estimated value in a $1,000,000 pool calculatedas 1000000/1000/1=$1000. Therefore the person having the ticketpredicting the 2-1 outcome will be offered in the region of 100 timesmore for his ticket as his ticket is 100 times more likely (than theticket with the 1-10 score) to win the $1,000,000 jackpot.

This mathematical calculation of EV for fair value can be extended tothe entire range of tickets that exist and extended backwards to thetickets remaining after the very first leg if appropriate. The ticketholders could be offered “cash in” values at any time, such as from assoon as is acceptable and viable. In certain examples, it is envisagedthat cash in circumstances will increase later in the game when thepotential values begin to rise significantly. In addition, in certainexamples, games may include a Consolation Pool and/or a Bonus Pool inaddition to a jackpot. Also, in certain examples, the ticket cash-in orbuy back may include the purchase of the rights to other pools. Asmerely an example and without limitation, in games where there is aConsolation Pool and/or a Bonus Pool in addition to the jackpot, theticket cash-in or buy back may include the purchase of the rights to theother pools, and the price offered will include the EV/FV/theoreticalvalue of the bonus ticket (and any potential dividends from theConsolation Pool) given the live tickets remaining. As should beunderstood, in other examples, the ticket cash-in or buy back may stillinclude the purchase of the rights to other pools even where noConsolation Pool and/or a Bonus Pool is provided.

As another option in the system, the buy-back or cash-in offer may bestaged as an iterative bidding process. Thus, even after a first offeris made and rejected, the operator may elect to make another higheroffer upon a subsequent presentation of a ticket. However, the holder ofthe ticket will not necessarily be given a second offer once the firstoffer is rejected so that the ticket holder will be unaware of whether agreater offer will follow or if they will be locked into the “hold”position until the conclusion of the next match or leg of the game.

An output device such as televisions 24 may also be coupled with thecentral server system 12 computers 120 and configured, for example, todisplay the pool of betting combinations and a representation of thetickets or wagers that are active in the system resulting from thebettor-selected game predictions and the results of the respective gamesor events that have been completed which form part or all of the poolevents. Such an output device 24 may also include, for example, a visualdisplay and/or a printing device. Additionally, such an output device 24may be configured to display the results of an event taking place at aremote venue, such as the event forming the next leg of the pool. Thus,a betting parlor may have a series of televisions and monitorsbroadcasting the event (i.e., a soccer match), while also displayingstreaming data concerning for example the number of tickets that remainin the pool, alerts when a goal is scored that eliminates tickets fromthe pool, and potentially the offers to buy outstanding tickets.

The wagering stations 14A and wager terminals 16A may be located at afirst venue, while other wagering stations 14B-14N and wager terminals16B-16N may be located at other remotely located venues. Thus, thenetwork formed of the plurality of wagering stations 14A-14N and wagerterminals 16A-16N may enable wagering on, and monitoring of, events atmultiple venues substantially simultaneously if so desired. Accordingly,it is contemplated that the operator could have wagering stations14A-14N and/or wager terminals 16A-16N in multiple locations within acity, or multiple locations within a state, country or region, so as toallow pooling of bets in the game across a significant population todrive the amounts of the Jackpot Pool to substantial values for eachindividual game, series of events/matches.

In another embodiment, the wagering stations 14A-14N may be located in asingle venue such as a race track where, for example, a first wageringstation 14A acts as a server for all of the other wagering stations14B-14N networked to it for conducting the pool wagering activity, withwagering stations 14B-14N acting as terminals coupled with the server offirst wagering station 14A.

It may be appreciated that the wagering activity and buy-out optionaccording to the present disclosure may be effected in a specificenvironment at a specific location on a stand-alone (or closed) systemor may be electronically linked to include play in a plurality ofenvironments or at a plurality of locations. For example, the wageringstations 14A-14N and wager terminals 16A-16N may be distributedthroughout a variety of wagering venues including race tracks, off-trackbetting facilities, retail establishments (where legal), casinos,lotteries, and on the Internet. Further, such wagering activity andevaluation thereof may provide automatic and immediate performancefeedback (individual and team performance, leader boards or otherindicia of participant standings, contest time remaining, accountbalances, etc.) to participants via text messaging, cellular telephones,PDAs, interactive television, email, Internet browsers or otherapplications. Here again, the wide distribution of available outlets anddevices for entering into the game is intended to allow pooling of betsin the game across a significant population to drive the amounts of theJackpot Pool to substantial values for each individual game, series ofevents/matches.

In a sports or event based wagering environment, the product concept canbe applied to a number of different sports and markets. For convenience,the first implementation of the product will be described with respectto a series of soccer correct score and “Home/Draw/Away (“H/D/A”)markets pooled and bet on a weekly basis. The system operator willselect multiple game (three, four, five, six or seven or more games)that will occur over the following days or a weekend. For example, thesystem operator may select three games on a Saturday, two games on aSunday and the final one or two games on a Monday. Players will bechallenged to select the correct score for each of the games. To win theJackpot Pool, the player must select the correct score of each of thesix or seven games. The cash in function described herein may be appliedeven on low leg games such as a pick 3.

Accordingly, the system operator may offer several different multi-legoutcomes. For an exemplary description, a version of the pool wageringsystem will be described using a six leg correct score game run over sixsoccer matches. However, it should be readily apparent that the poolwagering system may be adapted to a PICK-n correct score model. In thisexample, it is assumed that the most likely result in any soccer matchwill have a high score of three for either team, as shown in FIG. 4which shows the total goal expectancy over six years for six premierleagues and the world cup. In the six leg pool wagering system, each legmay consist of seventeen outcomes, these being 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-2,3-2 and “AOH” (any other home win) then 0-0, 1-1, and “AOD” (any otherdraw) and the reciprocal away results, to allow each leg to consist of17 outcomes. The inclusion of terminal group scores “AOH, AOD, AOAensure better user experience and manageable number of probableselections. Such group could easily be extended to point spreads ingames like basketball or any others, where the selections might be minus25 points (−25), minus 24 points (−24), minus 20 points (−20) . . . plus20 points. (+20), plus 24 points (+24), plus 25 points (+25), etc.

It should be understood that the foregoing is exemplary and thepotential outcomes can be varied and may not be consistent over variousleagues where the number of goals scored may be higher on average. Thealternative anticipated scores for such a league may only influence thedistribution, but not the applicability of the game, which will have aset of probabilities for each respective outcome that may be leaguedependent.

It is contemplated that the operator may provide that the minimum amountof the “Jackpot Pool” is guaranteed at a set level, and most of theother bets offered could be guaranteed to insure first day retailpopularity. Those players who correctly select scores and winners ofeach leg will share the maximum of either the guarantee, or the stakesof all the others (less any applicable deductions) and also gain entryinto a bonus pool. The Bonus Pool may be won or shared by anyindividuals that successfully choose one or more correct score(s) thefollowing week, or a nominated time or similar

A Consolation Pool may be shared by those who select all the correctoutcomes (H/D/A) or another subset of the correct score game, or onother variations based on, for example, any five of six or six of seven.The player in this example will not need to nominate H/D/A but hiscorrect score prediction ‘Home 2-0’ will naturally be allocated to a“Home” outcome in the H/D/A determination of the Consolation Pool. Assuch on a correct score pick 7, 7 correct H/D/A results in-line with aplayer's CS selections will mean the player “wins” the consolationprize. In racing terms, the consolation will frequently be based on thehorse, dog, race car driver, etc. placing as opposed to winning.

As each match is played—and each goal is scored—player bets representedby their respective tickets will gradually be eliminated from theremaining tickets that can still win the Jackpot Pool. Those that remainwill be able to anticipate that the value of their tickets increases asthey see the results of each game. The central server system 12 may beconfigured to allow the display of the tickets that remain active forthe Jackpot Pool on each of the wagering terminals or alternatively adisplay board at distributed wagering locations as commonly provided inpresent establishments for example to display soccer matches, racingevents and available wagering events and odds. While the flagship of thepool play will be the Jackpot Pool for correctly selecting the six orseven correct scores, other games such a pick three could also beoffered to be completed within a single day or short time period.

Between legs, and preferably after several of the games or matches havebeen completed, but potentially also during the course of an event forexample at the half-time of a match or event, players with “live”tickets may be offered the option of selling all or a portion of theirtickets back to the system operator (or alternatively, directly orindirectly through the system operator, or directly to, any designatedthird party, such as, without limitation, one or more third partyoperator(s), business entity or entities such as a merchant(s), one ormore other persons, etc.) or to retain their tickets and see whethertheir correct score predictions will unfold for the remaining games. Asshould be understood, any reference to system operator herein should beconstrued to apply equally to any third party as an alternative, even ifnot specifically mentioned. The buy-out option will preferably becommunicated through the wagering station 14, wagering terminal 16, orinternet connected computing devices 18-24 from which the respectivewager was placed and ticket purchased. However, as the wagering stations14 wagering terminals 16 may not be accessible to the player, it isfurther contemplated that at the point in time that the player places awager in the pool play of the present disclosure they will providecontact information to allow communication with their computing system18 that is linked on the central server system 12 to the particularticket. Thus, the central server system 12 will be able to send amessage to the ticket holder's computing system 18, smart phone 20, ortablet computer 22, providing details of the buy-out offer. If theticket holder decides to cash in the ticket in response to the offer,the ticket holder may communicate the acceptance via the computingsystem 18, smart phone 20, or tablet computer 22, to the central serversystem 12. Alternatively, the ticket holder would present the ticket toone of the wagering stations 14 or wagering terminals 16 which in turncommunicate the acceptance to the central server system 12, and uponverification, provide the ticket bearer with a payout in the form ofcash, a voucher or check. If necessary or appropriate in the respectivejurisdiction, the amount of the payout may be reduced in an amountrequired to be withheld for tax purposes.

It is anticipated that for the pool wagering system with the buy-backoption of the present disclosure that there will be an initial guaranteeby the operator of the Jackpot Pool in an amount sufficient to createinitial interest, for example $1 million. Thereby, Jackpot Pool winnerswill always be guaranteed to win all or a share of a Jackpot Pool equalor in excess of $1 million. In a first embodiment of the system andproduct, with respect to each ticket purchased the split following thetakeout (e.g., set at 25%) may be as follows: 75% to fund the JackpotPool, 15% to fund the Bonus Pool, and 10% to fund the ConsolationPool(s). Other splits may be desirable and are expressly contemplated.Therefore if $250,000 (i.e. 125,000×$2 per ticket) was bet into the poolin the first week, the Jackpot Pool would stand at $140,625 (i.e.$250,000×0.75×0.75=$140,625), but any winners would share in the $1million guaranteed Jackpot Pool. Any winners of the Consolation Pool(i.e. those selecting five out of six of the correct scores accurately)will split a share of $25,000 between them less deductions (i.e.$25,000×0.75). The following week, winners would get the opportunity toselect a correct score (for each successful ticket) from a featuredmatch to be in with a chance of winning the Bonus Pool. Anyone whocorrectly predicts that correct score would therefore net a share of theBonus Pool.

Should the Jackpot Pool and Bonus Pool not be won for a few weeks, thenthose pools may build up to very significant amounts. For example, ifplayers bet a total of $3,000,000 into the Jackpot Pool (over a period)but fail to win the main Jackpot Pool prize, then a total win/jackpotpayout of $2,250,000 will have built up and any winners the followingweek Jackpot Pool winners will get a share of that amount plus a shareof the amounts staked in that week. Therefore, if another $3,000,000 isbet into the Jackpot Pool then the potential winnings will stand at$4,500,000. Should three people win the game, then they will split$4,500,000, giving them $1,500,000 winnings each (less their price ofpurchase and/or deductions other than the takeout, if applicable). TheConsolation Pool will have been won previously—in all likelihood—andwill for example stand at about $300,000 from the current week's stakes.If 30 players select five out of six correct scores that week, then theywill win $7,500 each. The Bonus Pool will not have been won (yet) andwill stand at $900,000. The three winners will have the chance to winthe Bonus Pool in the next week, each getting one selection.

As the matches or games for each of the respective tickets arepreferably staggered over 2, 3 or even 4 days (typically 3 days Saturdayto Monday), the system operator will have the ability to communicate tothe respective wagering outlets or through an online interface to offerplayers the ability to sell back any tickets which are still ‘live’after one but preferably several of the matches as discussed above. Inother circumstances, such as in tennis as an example, buy-back oftickets may be enacted intra leg (between sets or games), or in laterlegs. In football, for example, buy back may occur during live play.

To further illustrate, if a player has a ticket where the first threematches/games on a Saturday were predicted correctly, he/she will havethe facility to sell back to the system operator the same ticket andclose out their position before Sunday's matches. The buyback value willbe calculated by the server, potentially under the control of the systemoperator or the business partner, based on the number of match legs theticket has already correctly predicted plus the remaining predictionsfor the subsequent games. When a ticket is cashed in (i.e. bought backby the system operator), the ticket and all the rights of the ticketwill vest in the system operator. In addition, this buy-out facilitywill include a margin for the system operator, anticipated to be around15%.

For example, if, going into the Monday night games, a player has twotickets which are still in play, and their predictions for the final twomatches are 2-3 and 1-0 on one ticket and 2-2 and 1-0 on the otherticket, they will have the option to cash in either or both of theirtickets. The server system under the direction and control of the systemoperator will calculate the estimated odds of winning the pool (andpay-out) with either ticket and will offer a buyback value to theplayer. The mechanism will be clearly explained to players who can optto either exercise the opportunity to sell back their position or stayin the game until the end. While as noted above the central serversystem 12 may have the ability to provide information on the number oftickets that are still in play after each leg or match in the pool, itis also contemplated that the information may or may not be communicatedto the respective ticket holders who receive the buy-out offer. Thus,the ticket holder may not be aware that there are only a few as opposedto dozens of still viable tickets in a given pool when the buy-out offeris communicated. If the player is given some information fortransparency, it may or may not be leg by leg information, and as suchhe might know how many tickets remain but he cannot know if he owns theexact permutations he owns unless the game is in the final leg. It mayhowever be beneficial to communicate with the holders of every remaininglive ticket the exact number of outstanding live tickets, and the scoresthose tickets have allocated in each leg. The only time the disclosuresmay not be communicated will be during concurrent games. Theinformation, if given leg by leg, gives 100% clarity on the potential tosplit the jackpot once published for the final leg. Individualpermutations and their ownership level may or may not be given, but theypotentially could be.

It is also envisioned that cash-in buy back may also operate during liveplay and offer continuous cash-in ability as soon as it is technicallypossible, for example at the half-time of a match or during the runningof a match when possible. It is also contemplated that a ticket could bepurchased with two or more potential outcomes selected for the finallegs or events, for example by paying twice as much the player couldhave one selection in each of the first five legs and then have twodifferent selections for the sixth leg. In such an event, the system mayoffer to buy both outcomes, or each outcome and thereby divide theticket as between the original player and the system operator. This typeof fragmentation of the tickets could be extended to any leg of theevent.

The ticket buy back process may include an interactive process that bidsthe ticket holder in a sequence of events for the ticket. For example,the system operator might originally offer the client $100,000 for aticket that has 5 correct scores, if the client declines to sell theticket, the system operator might revert to offer $105,000. At each stepthe ticket holder may not be aware if that is the final buy-out offer ora better buy-out offer will occur. In certain examples, there may alsobe only a limited number of buy-out offers made and/or capable of beingaccepted with respect to a particular game or games, (i.e., madeto/accepted by players participating in a particular game), so thegreater the number of buy-out offers declined by a player and/or longerthe time period before a player accepts an outstanding buy-out offer,the greater the risk may be that no additional buy-out offers will bemade to that player or an outstanding buy-out offer made to a givenplayer may be withdrawn (i.e., once the maximum limit is reached).Furthermore, the ticket holder may have the period between the offer andthe start of the next leg of the bet in which to make up their minds.Once the next leg has started, buy-out offers may be automaticallywithdrawn. It is further contemplated that the ability to trade or selltickets back to the system operator may be continuous, and also in thesecircumstances, the bid may be extremely time sensitive. Additionally, asdiscussed above, the player or ticket holder may have the option to sella fraction of their ticket to the system operator or other third party.In the first instance, this facility may be limited where desired, suchas to 10% fractions. A player that sells a portion of his ticket back tothe system operator may then only get paid in respect of the remainingfraction of the bet should the ticket be successful. The system operatormay pay the other portion to itself (or the third party ticketpurchaser) if that ticket was successful.

If a player retains a portion of a ticket that is successful and thusentitles him to play a bonus game, in certain examples, the player willbe allowed one selection (or other desired selection amount(s)), butwill only win the fraction of the Bonus Pool that he holds in thewinning ticket. In other examples, a player may be allowed to decouple aticket, such that a player may accept a full or partial buy-out of onlycertain parts of a ticket (i.e., for a given Jackpot, or only certainevents listed on a ticket, such as particular games) and with theremaining parts of the ticket being unaffected, so that the playerretains the entirely of these remaining parts of the ticket (i.e., suchas a bonus and/or consolation pool, or any other events listed on aticket, such as remaining games). As mentioned above, when a ticket iscashed in (i.e. bought back by the system operator), the ticket and allthe rights of the ticket will vest in the system operator. As such, thesystem operator would hold the other portion of the ticket and beentitled to select an outcome in the bonus leg and win the portion (orwhole) bonus. It is contemplated that where the system operator holds awhole or part of a bonus ticket, they will need to nominate theirselection earlier than the remaining players, for example, the systemoperator must nominate their selection 2 hours prior the start of thebonus game, and members of the public will only need to offer theirselection 1 hour before. This rule would help ensure that the systemoperator's selection cannot be made with the prior knowledge of thepublic selection. As a default, any player having a valid qualifyingticket that does not make a selection in the Bonus Pool for their bonusticket will be allocated a selection having a high probability, forexample a 1-1 draw. This may be provided in the terms and conditions(“T&Cs”) of the game.

In the context of a lottery game, in certain implementations any playerhaving a valid qualifying ticket that is not present or found in timefor the cash-in phase will be deemed not to sell. In the context of slotgames, in certain implementations if a timer expires, the player willhave been deemed not to have sold. Thus, generally speaking, if a playerdoes not give input or is not present to make a decision as to whathe/she wants to do, the game will proceed as if player does not want tosell.

In a first implementation it is anticipated that only the systemoperator will be able to offer the buy-out option to the active ticketsholders using the central server system 12 to communicate the offers.However, it is also contemplated that the system operator may use thecentral server system 12 to solicit offers from third parties that wouldbe communicated to the active ticket holder. In this embodiment, thecentral server system 12 could communicate the details of theoutstanding active tickets through all or a select number of wageringterminals 16 and allow bids for the outstanding active tickets to besubmitted via the wagering terminals 16. As another alternativeembodiment, it is contemplated that the system operator could facilitatethe ability of members of the public to buy and sell active tickets likein the manner of a person to person betting exchange, such as, withoutlimitation, of the type offered by Betfair. Thus, it is alsocontemplated that the central server system 12 could allow the postingof available buy-back options so that the public could place buy-backoffers for example though the wagering terminals 14 and the ticketholder could select the buy-back bid of his or her choosing.

With the foregoing description of the implementation, it may beappreciated that during the course of an exemplary wagering event (e.g.,such as a pool, a parlay, an accumulator, etc.), the central serversystem 12 may go through certain of the following process steps, and inone or more rounds as may be required to complete a particular wageringevent, as shown in FIG. 5, comprising:

-   -   a) receiving information on the results of the events/matches        from the input device;    -   b) interrogating the ticket base, to count live or active        tickets that have correctly predicted each game outcome to date        following each outcome;    -   c) price the active tickets based on the number of active        tickets that will hold a particular outcome;    -   d) price the active ticket on the probability of the selected        outcome;    -   e) price the active ticket as against the scope of the Jackpot        Pool;    -   f) determine an attributed price ((pool size/number of ticket        that hold that outcome)* probability of that outcome-margin) and        offer price for the active ticket(s);    -   g) communicate the offer price to the active ticket holder for        all or a portion of the active ticket;    -   h) receive confirmation of acceptance of the offer from the        active ticket holder;    -   i) complete the buy-out transaction;    -   j) receive input on the completion of the final events/legs of        the pool;    -   k) distribute the Jackpot Pool to holders of the winning active        ticket(s).

Further, the concept and system disclosed herein can be adapted forother multi-outcome wagering scenarios and may include any desiredmanner of wagering, including but not limited to those that accommodateaccumulator or parlay wagering, as an illustration. For purposes of thisdisclosure, a parlay or accumulator wager comprises a single wager thatlinks together two or more discrete events and in any combination (e.g.,legs or divisible portion thereof) and is dependent on correctlyselecting the outcome of the two or more discrete events. For instance,a parlay or accumulator wager as referenced herein may include a double,treble or any other type of multiple wager as may be known in the art.As one example, an accumulator or parlay may have much higher payoffsthan wagers placed on individual discrete events since the difficulty ofhitting it (i.e., correctly selecting all event outcomes) is muchhigher. If any of the discrete events in the accumulator or parlay lose(i.e., the selected outcome is incorrect) the entire accumulator orparlay loses. In certain other examples, where the parlay or accumulatorwager includes combinations of discrete events, and one or more of thosecombinations lose, the player may be still eligible to win some portionof a jackpot, a consolation, or some other award as may be desired.Thus, in the context of the present disclosure, an accumulator or parlaywager may be placed on a multi-leg event (either in the entirety or adesignated portion or portions of legs, etc.), such that the outcome ofeach leg corresponding to the accumulator/parlay wager must be correctlyselected for the accumulator/parlay wager to be eligible for adesignated prize or award (e.g., a jackpot) or portion thereof. Incertain examples, the parlay or accumulator wager may be selectable byat least one of a player, a third party, the wagering system or someother manner as may be desired. Notably, for example and withoutlimitation, the terms wagers, wagering, bets and betting as referencedherein may include, without limitation and for illustration purposesonly, single wagers, multiple wagers, full cover wagers, full coverwagers with singles, ‘Any to Come’ (ATC) or ‘if cash’ wagers, specialtywagers, forecasts, fixed, variable, guaranteed, parimutuel wagering,fixed-odds wagering, and any other variations known in the art, etc.,alone and in any desired combinations. For example, multiple wagers mayinclude a parlay or accumulator wager.

As another example, a multi-outcome wagering scenario may include slotmachines. In this alternative, the system could be incorporated into anytype of slot machine game, such as a progressive jackpot played forexample on a slot machine 26 as depicted in FIG. 1. In this example,each reel or defined number of reels of the slot machine 26 maycorrespond to a different leg of a multi-outcome wagering event. Asnoted above, each reel may be a virtual reel (as in a video orelectronic slot machine, for example) or a mechanical reel as inconventional slot machines. Further, any of the type of wager inputdevices described above in connection with FIG. 1 may be used, oralternatively a conventional slot machine may operate as the wager inputdevice. In addition, there may be a plurality of slot machines 26provided for participation by multiple participants, and each of theslot machines being in communication with a server system controller.Currently, slot machine based games have an outcome which is determinedalmost immediately even though the machine may take a few seconds todisplay the results. Even in the present systems, the game is completebefore a person has the chance to realize that they are getting closerand closer to the premier prize. In most examples the reels stop one byone, with only 1 second or so between each reel. However, the display ofeach reel stopping is primarily for effect as the outcome of the game isdetermined by the random number generator in the game controller shortlyafter the play is initiated.

The present disclosure may be implemented in various configurations forgaming machines or wager terminals known in the art, including but notlimited to a dedicated gaming machine or wager terminal, wherein thecomputerized instructions for controlling any games (which are providedby the gaming machine or wager terminal) are provided with the gamingmachine or wager terminal prior to delivery to a gaming establishment,and a changeable gaming machine or wager terminal, where thecomputerized instructions for controlling any games (which are providedby the gaming machine or wager terminal) are downloadable to the gamingmachine or wager terminal through a data network when the gaming machineor wager terminal is in a gaming establishment. These types of gamingmachines and their respective operation in both stand alone and pool orprogressive games are disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 8,105,149,incorporated herein by reference.

By incorporating the concept of the present disclosure, the slot machinecould be programmed such that once a first level of jackpot indicatorsappear in a winning sequence according to a first random numbergeneration, the selection and display of the remaining indicator orindicators is paused and an offer to buy-out the player is presented.For example, a person with four “$” on the first four reels and the lastreel spinning is one step from a jackpot, (e.g. $2,000,000) and if themachine has a 20/1 odds to get the last reel on a “$” then the operatorcould offer to buy-the spin for $100,000, or any fraction of it for theproportionate amount. If the player accepted the buyout, the machinewould print a cash-out ticket for the buyout amount. The player eitheraccepts the offer, in full or in part, or rejects the offer whereuponthe random number for the remaining wheel is generated and the spin iscompleted. If the buyout was accepted and the final indicator selectionresults in a win, then the operator banks the amount of the jackpot. Ifthe player sells only a fraction of the potential jackpot, then theplayer receives credits, either on the machine or in a ticket print, ofthe fractional remainder and the operator banks the balance.

It is anticipated that the concept will provide great drama and alimited period for it to be resolved, and allow players to trade andcontrol their fate. From an operator standpoint, there may be a limit onthe duration of the buyout offer, for example thirty seconds or oneminute. This may be counted down for the player on the display, so thatthe player is forced to make a decision or simply allow the time toexpire and the last indicator to be selected. While in theory the systemcould be used as soon as a single indicator is selected, it is believedthat the system is more practically implemented when there are severalindicators that must align before extending the final spin to providethe buyout or trade-in option. Thus, it is contemplated that the optionwould not be provided until the bet/selection has been 70-90% resolvedor else the value of the buyout option is not sufficient to entice theplayer to cash-out and the progress and rate of play may be unacceptablyslowed down.

The slot machine based system provides additional benefits to the houseor casino in which the machine is located. First, for an in-house onlyprogressive or pool game system, the buy-back option allows the house tobid on and potentially receive (if the bid is accepted) the accumulatedjackpot pool. In addition, in the event that the jackpot pool is aprogressive or pool game distributed over a number of properties, sothat the jackpot pool will grow faster or in the event that a gamingmachine manufacturer licenses the use of the machines across variousproperties, the casino hosting the game (or the gaming machine OEM) mayoffer the buy-out of the jackpot pool option at the termination of anyspin, including the first spin and, again if the bid is accepted, thecasino making the offer would receive the jackpot pool as if it were theplayer who had won. In this situation, the host casino would generaterevenues from the game play contributed to the jackpot pool thatoccurred in other casinos. They can also make money by buying back atless than actual value, i.e., charging margin on the sold ticket orfraction of a ticket

In accordance with the buy-out pool option of the present disclosure,the cash out button of the gaming machine 26 may be illuminated when thefirst sequence of the display for example the first three of four reelsalign such that the player may be on track to win the Jackpot Pool. Inthat event, the central server system 12 or the wager terminal itselfcauses the display to present a buy-out offer to the player. If theplayer elects to cash-out, the player may push the cash out button andcash out to receive a cash payment or other suitable form of paymentcorresponding to the offer presented on the display, whereupon theremaining random selection is made to determine if the Jackpot Pool iswon.

In one embodiment, the player may be offered the option of cashing out apercentage of the potential Jackpot Pool, for example by depressing thecash out button the players sells 10% or 25% of the potential JackpotPool for the amount offered on the display. If the player for examplesells 50% of the Jackpot Pool opportunity for $50,000, the player willbe issued a credit for the $50,000 and then the remaining wheel spin orleg is completed. If the result is a win of the Jackpot Pool, then theplayer will receive credits for 50% of the Jackpot Pool, while theoperator or house retains the remainder.

When the player decides to end the game play, he can select the cash outbutton at which time the player may receive cash or other payoutmechanisms such as tickets or credit slips redeemable by a cashier (orother suitable redemption system) or funding to the player'selectronically recordable identification card or the player's onlineaccount.

It is further contemplated that the jackpot buyout option and theconcept and system disclosed herein can be adapted for a variety ofother ‘multi leg,’ multi-outcome wagering scenarios, such as, forexample, keno, poker, racing, video games (including live and onlinevideo games, as examples) and lotteries, including but not limited toprivate, public, state, national, international, social (e.g., healthcare or social lottery types) or any other type of lottery systems, etc.For example, in a lottery system, after the periodic ticket purchaseinterval, the lottery operator may draw a defined number of items, suchas numbered balls. As should be understood any indicators other thannumbers may also be utilized where desired, such as symbols, colors,pictures, etc. In addition, the game may comprise items other thanrandomly drawn balls where desired, or pre-printed numbered tickets,that then may be selected by balls or random numbers or other process.Any of the type of wager input devices described above in connectionwith FIG. 1 may be used, or alternatively a conventional lottery machinemay be utilized for input of player handpicked numbers, for providingelectronically generated numbers, such as quick pick or smart picknumbers, and providing a record of the lottery numbers for the player,such as by printing of a ticket. In addition, a plurality of wager inputdevices or lottery machines may be utilized and each in communicationwith a server system controller. The total amount of numbered ballsmaking up the lottery system may be any desired number.

In addition, the lottery system may be comprised of different legs byhaving one or more balls drawn at any given time that make up each leg.In this example, each of the balls may be selected in any desiredmanner, such as being hand selected from a container or selected viaconventional lottery machines, such as gravity pick machines, air mixmachines, or via computerized random number generators, as examples. Thelottery system could also be set up in any desired manner for howplayers may win. For example, it could be an all or nothing arrangementwhere a player must win all legs to win a final Jackpot, or win adefined number of legs to win one or more interim Jackpots before alllegs are completed, etc.

In addition, a buy-out offer (or partial buy-out offer) may be made atany time after a ticket is obtained until completion of the event,including (without limitation) after a predetermined number of numbershave been drawn, to a player and the player may sell all or a portion oftheir ticket. The buy-out offer may also come from a single party ormultiple parties; for instance, multiple parties operating incollaboration or multiple parties that may not be operating incollaboration (for example, where the lottery system may “bring” certainparties together for purposes of accumulating adequate resources forpurposes of a buy-out offer being made). In certain examples, the partyor parties buying all or part of the ticket in response to an acceptedbuy-out offer will obtain legal ownership of the ticket (100% ownershipor a fractional ownership share where only a part is sold, i.e., whereboth the buyer and seller will end up with part ownership), and will beentitled to win at least a portion of any future Jackpots or otherprizes that may occur from the point of purchase moving forward (or evenshare in the proceeds of prior Jackpots or prizes if set up in thatmanner). In certain other examples, the party or parties buying all orpart of the ticket in response to an accepted buy-out offer will notobtain legal ownership of the ticket, but merely obtain an entitlement(e.g., a contract) to win at least a portion or all of any futureJackpots or other prizes that may occur from the point of purchasemoving forward.

As should be understood, wherever the term “party” is used throughoutthis disclosure it should be broadly construed to comprise a singleentity or plurality of entities. Also, its should be understood thatboth the player or ticket owner as well as the party making the buy-outoffer may be comprised of a single entity or a plurality of entities.

The value or price of the buy-out offer and/or ticket sold may bevariable as may be desired. For instance, the value or price of thebuy-out offer can be set by various sources, and be based on anyobjective and/or subjective standards, such as an auction, a calculatedprobability (e.g., of winning one or more legs of a multi-outcomewagering event), random-number-generated probabilities, a lottery systemsimilar to server system 12 discussed above, a party or partiesinitiating the buy-out offer, an independent third party/parties orresource(s), such as the system operator, the seller of the ticket,and/or it may be the byproduct of negotiations or a barter between thebuyer and seller to arrive at an acceptable price, etc. In addition, thevalue or price can also be affected by the number of parties receiving abuy-out offer; for example, an amount X where there is one party and Xdivided by 3 where there are 3 parties, etc. As for timing, the buy-outoffer could be made prior to any legs occurring or at any time prior tocompletion of the event, such as between any of the defined number oflegs, and may be made just to winners or to any other parties, such aspartial winners or to players who have not won at all, but who stillhave an active ticket, such as before any legs have been completed or aticket that has separate divisions, etc. In addition, the value or pricerelating to a particular buy-out offer (or ticket sold) may berepresented, conveyed or otherwise characterized in any desired manner,such as, and without limitation, as a jackpot or portion thereof (e.g.,as at least a portion of at least one jackpot; for example, a designatedjackpot that may be smaller (i.e. in value and/or price) than a largerjackpot that may be available to a winner/winners of a multi-outcomewagering event and set by any of the various sources above), as a prize,a payment, an award (e.g. monetary and/or nonmonetary awards, such asthose described above), or any other suitable manner. Separate and apartfrom buy-out offers, tickets may be exchanged or transferred from oneplayer to another or to any other party or entity type and at anydesired time, and with legal ownership also being transferred at thesame time. In some circumstances there may be merely an exchange oftickets and no other value or payment made from one party to another. Inother circumstances there may be a value or payment made from one partyto another, which can comprise anything the parties may agree to, suchas some form of monetary payment or credit, or some other form of“value”, such as, without limitation, any goods or services orincentives, etc.

In one example of a lottery system, the first x number of balls would bedrawn at one or more predetermined times, such as from one “barrel”,which would correspond to one or more legs, and after a delay of acertain interval, such as one week, the last leg or bonus ball would bedrawn. For instance, 5 balls would be drawn on a weekend day and make upthe first leg, although any other day may be utilized as well, or even ashorter or longer interval, such as within minutes or hours, or adesired number of days, weeks, months or years. Also, as should beunderstood, the number of balls drawn making up the first leg may varyas well, such as fewer or more numbered balls. A determination wouldthen be made as to the number of tickets having the correct numbers.This may be accomplished electronically via the server systemcontroller. In certain examples, the determination may involveidentifying tickets having all 5 numbers correct. However, in otherexamples, the determination may involve identifying those tickets thathave some designated number of balls correct less than 5, such as 4 outof 5, or 3 out of 5, or 2 out of 5 or 1 out of 5, etc. In addition, incertain examples the particular order or sequence of numbers on a ticketare required to correspond to the order of the balls drawn to beconsidered correct. In certain other examples, the order or sequence ofnumbers on a ticket do not need to correspond to the order of the ballsdrawn; so long as the ticket contains the requisite number of balls thatwere drawn somewhere on the ticket (irrespective of the order drawn).Any number of the holders of tickets having the correct numbers may beprovided with a buy-out offer, conducted as a fixed price offer (thatmay not be consistent to each player, if some players hold the sameterminal number as others and as such are only eligible to share thejackpot), or as part of an auction system where a limited number of “buyouts” may be offered, as examples, followed by a drawing or drawings todetermine the winners from the remaining ticket holders that did notaccept the buyout offer. In addition, with respect to those exampleswhere a ticket having less than all balls correct would qualify, theparticular buy-out offer may be relevant to the number of balls that arecorrect, for example, a larger buyout offer the more correct numbers ona ticket, and/or entitlement to a larger or better prize or a bonus themore correct numbers on a ticket, etc. Alternatively, any of the playershaving winning tickets (or those having a certain amount of correctnumbers) may qualify for a supplemental lottery drawing, which could bethe final leg(s) of the lottery or a bonus round, as examples. Forinstance, the qualified players may select or obtain one or moreadditional number or numbers on a new ticket for purposes of thesupplemental drawing. For example, the supplemental drawing could be inthe form of a bonus ball, and the winner or winners matching the bonusball would win or share in the Jackpot or a bonus Jackpot.

For instance, in this example, each of the holders of tickets having thecorrect numbers (or any other desired number of ticket holders) may beoffered to attend the draw of the remaining number or numbers in anorganized event, such as via a live event attended by all holders inperson at a defined location, or attended by a communications mediumfrom an offsite location, such via a video conference or web interface,such as Skype or ooVoo, as examples (perhaps the following week or otherdesired time). In addition, the live event could be made accessible forviewing by the public, such as an in person audience, or more generallyviewed over any mass communications medium, such as broadcast overtelevision, cable, satellite, the internet, radio, mobile communicationdevice (e.g., mobile phones, tablets, computers, PDA (personal digitalassistant), etc.), social media or any other desired medium. As anexample, the lottery system may be set as a reality show that is viewedlive or pre-recorded and broadcast over television or other medium tothe viewing public. In addition, in this example, before the remainingnumber(s) are selected, the lottery operator may provide remainingticket holders with a buyout option, available to a limited number ofplayers or all of them on occasion. Further, in this illustration, abidding process may be included as an option, which would have theeffect to add drama to the conclusion of the game. For instance, thebuyout bid could potentially be provided to all the people at the sameamount for their ticket and let them rush to accept, and with thebidding process closed once a certain percentage have “sold” theirticket in response to the buyout offer, and then the last ball or ballswould be drawn. As an alternative, for example to maximize interest andtension for television purposes, the bonus ball (or last leg oralternatively any other leg) may be determined by a multi-step processof elimination, resulting in one or more remaining numbered balls thatare then used to compare against the players tickets to determine ifthere are any winners (i.e., removing one or more balls in each leg, andincluding a plurality of legs so that more and more balls are removedover time, until just a certain number of balls remain, such as oneball), rather than a process of selecting one or more balls in oneaction that are used to compare against the players tickets, but eitherprocess may be used as desired. Additionally it may be possible thatbetween each elimination process or leg (or fewer than each but betweenspecified legs) the individuals still eligible for a prize may or maynot be offered an additional chance to “cash in their ticket” with asubsequent buy-out offer or offers, and the buy-out offers may also beincreasing in value as their probability of winning increases as theevent proceeds toward the last leg or bonus ball. Alternatively, thebuyout offer could be provided to less than all players, at differenttimes, at different amounts, and/or having a defined period of time forplayers to accept the buyout bid. It should be understood that themulti-step process of elimination may be used in any manner inconnection with a lottery system, such as, including for either or bothof any initial lottery drawings or any bonus drawings.

Further, the percentage of players required in order to trigger theclose of the bidding process may be established at any desired value,for instance, ranging all the way up to 100% of the players that haveaccepted the buyout offer. The lottery operator may assume the ownershipof the ticket from the players that have accepted the buyout offer. Anywinners after the final number(s) are drawn would receive or share inthe jackpot. If there is no winner, in one implementation the jackpotmay be rolled into another game or event. Alternatively, players mayalso be allowed to sell a fraction of their tickets in response to abuy-out offer, to ensure the game is not 100% binary as an option, andwith the proportion being any desired amount, such as being subject tocommercial considerations of drama, and interaction of players.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications to thepresently preferred embodiments and examples described herein will beapparent to those skilled in the art. For instance, each of the featuresand aspects described in connection with any of the various presentlypreferred embodiments and examples can also be used in connection withany or all of the other of the presently preferred embodiments andexamples alone or in combination, even though not explicitly describedtherein. Further it should be understood that all of the features andaspects described herein may be provided through use of any suitablehardware, software or combination of both, as may be desired and in anymanner. In addition, for example, the gaming system disclosed herein mayprovide the awards to winning players in any suitable manner, such asthrough a suitable bonus or secondary game or event determined by theimplementer or operator of the gaming system, and may include, withoutlimitation:

-   -   1) Dividing any multi (betting/dealing/trading) outcome into its        sub components.    -   2) Allow change of ticket ownership or ticket exchange between        players or other entities at any time, including at any point        after a ticket is obtained or an event is initiated up through        completion of the event, after each stage of the game being        resolved, or at any other desired time. The recipient of the        ticket that has changed ownership or been exchanged would assume        the same position as the original owner; in effect stepping into        the shoes of the original owner, and legally supersede the        original owner with all rights associated with the ticket. For        example, a change of ticket ownership can occur via a buy-out,        and the party acquiring the ticket would have all the rights as        the original owner, including being entitled to win any award or        jackpot that may relate to the ticket in connection with any        wagering event. In other examples, legal ownership of the ticket        would remain with a player, but the entitlement to any award or        jackpot is what would reside with another party where a “ticket        change” has occurred, such as through a buy-out, or trading or        giving a ticket to another player, etc.

Similarly, a party purchasing a partial buy-out of a ticket (i.e., lessthan 100% of the rights associated with the ticket) would be entitled towin any award or jackpot for which the ticket is redeemable inproportion to the interest purchased via the partial buy-out. Thus, ifthe party purchased a 30% interest in the ticket, the party would beentitled to 30% of the winnings for which the ticket is redeemable. Aswith full buy-outs, partial buy-outs can occur prior to or at any stageof a wagering event.

In an illustrative example of a ticket exchange, a pool may be “seeded”(i.e. a operator may place £3000 worth of bets into the pool) 4-5-6hours in advance of a particular wagering event. As the public play intoa pool becomes significant, rather than continuing to grow the pool(i.e., continuing to add money from bets) and have the operator'scommitment to keep the prices inline escalate, the operator can transfersome of the existing seed money or investment to a player buying a toteticket. Notably, the tote ticket may change ownership in whole or inpart, before the pool is closed, or after the pool has closed but beforecompletion of the wagering event.

-   -   3) Calculate the odds specifically, allow market forces to        determine a sale price, use other particular subjective and/or        objective factors, and/or use any desired combination of the        foregoing.    -   4) Allow the ownership of remaining tickets or number to be        transparently displayed to the player and or audience, to help        cash in or buy-back offers or process.    -   5) Transact, with or without a bidding process or joint bidding        process, or auction the ticket exchange. The implementer or        operator of the gaming system disclosed herein may also        designate the number of awards, the time at which those awards        are provided to each winning player, the number of rounds in the        bonus event, the number of designated outcomes in each round        and/or the number of available outcomes in each round to        suitable values.

Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the present disclosure and without diminishing itsintended advantages. For example, any of the concepts and featuresdescribed in connection with any example, embodiment or variation hereinmay also apply and be utilized in connection with any other example,embodiment or variation described herein alone or in combination. Inaddition, any of the concepts and features disclosed herein may beprovided by appropriate hardware, software and/or combination of bothhardware and software where desired and deemed appropriate. It istherefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by theappended claims.

1. A method of conducting a wagering event for one or more players,wherein a player is presented with at least one of a buy-out offer and apartial buy-out offer prior to completion of the wagering event, themethod comprising the steps of: providing one or more wagering inputdevices in communication with a system controller through which one ormore players may participate in a wagering event, said system controllerbeing adapted for: initiating the wagering event for one or moreplayers; receiving a wager via the one or more wagering input devices inresponse to a player desiring to participate in the wagering event;identifying one or more players eligible to win from among playersparticipating in the wagering event; initiating at least one of abuy-out offer and partial buy-out offer to any number of the one or moreplayers that are eligible to win, said buy-out offer or partial buy-outoffer being initiated at any time before the wagering event has beencompleted; identifying any acceptances of said at least one of a buy-outoffer and partial buy-out offer that have been initiated; completing thewagering event; and determining if any of the players have won.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the one or more players are eligible to winan award comprising one or more selected from the group consisting ofmonetary awards, nonmonetary awards, a prize, a payment, a designatedcurrency, virtual currency, tokens, credits, coupons, services, personalproperty, real property, virtual property, assets, investments,negotiable instruments, commodities, food, lodging, entertainment,alleviation of obligations, gaming opportunities and wager enhancement.3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying any acceptances of said atleast one of a buy-out offer and partial buy-out offer further comprisesthat each of the players accepting the buy-out offer will no longer beeligible to at least exclusively win an award, wherein each of theplayers not accepting the buy-out offer will remain eligible to win anaward, and wherein each of the players accepting a partial buy-out offerremains eligible to win at least a portion of an award.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein each the wagering event comprises one or more selectedfrom the group consisting of sporting events, lotteries, real games andvirtual games, and wherein the wager comprises a potential outcome. 5.The method of claim 4, wherein the wager is one or more of selectable bybeing handpicked by the player, provided electronically on request ofthe player through communication between the one or more wagering inputdevices and the system controller, provided via a random numbergenerator associated with the system controller, a quick pick or a smartpick.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the games comprise one or moreselected from the group consisting of slot machines, keno, poker, videogames and racing.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein accepting a partialbuy-out offer comprises a player accepting less than the buy-out offeramount, said acceptance resulting in the player remaining eligible towin at least a portion of at least one award.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the buy-out offer is initiated on behalf of at least one of athird party and a player, and when a buy-out offer is accepted, thethird party becomes eligible for winning at least a portion of an award.9. The method of claim 1, wherein the system controller is furtherprogrammed to provide an award, or any fractional portion thereof, uponthe completion of the wagering event.
 10. The method of claim 1, whereinthe multi-outcome wagering event comprises one or more virtual games,said method further comprising: initiating the buy-out offer prior tocompletion of the one or more virtual games, but after an outcome of theone or more virtual games has been determined, said buy-out offerincluding a price that is at least partially based onrandom-number-generated probabilities.
 11. The method of claim 1,further comprising initiating a bidding process among a designatednumber of players interested in accepting at least one of a buy-outoffer and partial buy-out offer, and closing the bidding process after acertain span of time or after a certain number of the buy-out andpartial buy-out offers have been accepted.
 12. The method of claim 1,wherein one or more interim awards are awarded prior to completion ofthe wagering event.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprisingawarding at least one consolation award where a consolation scenario iswon, and wherein said consolation scenario comprises finishing within apredetermined position of a corresponding winner.
 14. The method ofclaim 13, wherein there is a span of time before the wagering event iscompleted, and the wagering event is completed in a live or pre-recordedevent attended by the players eligible to win an award, a portionthereof, or a bonus prize.
 15. The method of claim 14, furthercomprising initiating a buy-back offer, prior to the wagering eventbeing completed, to at least one player eligible to win the award, theportion thereof, or the bonus, said buy-back offer being for a portionof an entirety of said award, said portion thereof, or said bonus prize.16. The method of claim 14, wherein the live or pre-recorded event is areality show that is broadcast over a mass communications medium. 17.The method of claim 16, wherein the mass communications medium comprisesat least one of television, satellite, cable, the Internet, mobilecommunication device, social media and radio.
 18. The method of claim 1,wherein the one or more wagering input devices are adapted forgenerating a wager for a player reflecting one or more predictedoutcomes of the wagering event.
 19. The method of claim 1, whereinownership or partial ownership of the wager may be changed from playerto player at any time before or during the course of the wagering event;and wherein the system controller is further adapted for identifying theownership status of the wager.
 20. The method of claim 1, wherein thewager further comprises a list that is at least one of printed on aticket, printed on a voucher, and displayed via the one or more wageringinput devices.
 21. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or morewagering devices comprise at least one of a wagering terminal, awagering workstation, a personal computer, a smart phone, a tabletcomputing device, a gaming machine, a slot machine, and a lotterymachine.
 22. The method of claim 1, wherein the wagering event comprisesa pool or is progressive, wherein said pool is at least one of fixed,variable and guaranteed.
 23. The method of claim 1, wherein where thereare no winners of at least one award, said at least one award is rolledinto another wagering event or at least partially awarded to an operatorof the wagering event.
 24. The method of claim 1, wherein the wageringevent comprises at least one of a bonus and a consolation, whereindesignated players who have won qualify for the bonus and designatedplayers who have lost qualify for the consolation, and wherein correctlypredicting an outcome of the bonus qualifies at least one designatedplayer for at least a portion of a bonus prize and correctly predictingan outcome of the consolation qualifies at least one designated playerfor at least a portion of a consolation prize.
 25. A wagering systemincluding one or more wagering input devices for allowing the placementof a wager on a wagering event, the wagering system comprising: a systemcontroller configured to communicate with the one or more wagering inputdevices, said system controller configured to: initiate the wageringevent for one or more players; receive a wager via the one or morewagering input devices in response to a player desiring to participatein the wagering event; initiate one or more of at least one of a buy-outoffer and a partial buy-out offer to any number of the one or moreplayers before the wagering event has been completed; identify anyacceptances of the at least one of a buy-out offer and partial buy-outoffer; complete the wagering event; and determine if any players havewon.
 26. The wagering system of claim 25, wherein the wagering eventcomprises at least one of an entire sporting event, a partial sportingevent, a divisible component of a sporting event, multiple independentsporting events occurring sequentially or concurrently, and acompilation of related spoiling events.
 27. The wagering system of claim25, wherein the wagering event comprises at least one of a bonus and aconsolation, wherein designated players who have won qualify for thebonus leg and designated players who have lost qualify for theconsolation leg, and wherein correctly predicting an outcome of thebonus qualifies at least one designated player for at least a portion ofa bonus prize and correctly predicting an outcome of the consolationqualifies at least one designated player for at least a portion of aconsolation prize.
 28. The wagering system of claim 25, wherein thewager comprises at least one of an accumulator and parlay wagercomprising at least one or more combinations, wherein the one or morecombinations are selectable by at least one of a player, a third party,and the wagering system, and wherein at any time before the wager hasbeen completed, at least one partial buy-out offer is initiated to anynumber of the one or more players remaining eligible to win at least oneof an award or a portion of an award.
 29. The wagering system of claim25, wherein the one or more players are eligible to win an awardcomprising one or more selected from the group consisting of monetaryawards, nonmonetary awards, a prize, a payment, a designated currency,virtual currency, tokens, credits, coupons, services, personal property,real property, virtual property, assets, investments, negotiableinstruments, commodities, food, lodging, entertainment, alleviation ofobligations, gaming opportunities and wager enhancement.
 30. Thewagering system of claim 25, wherein identifying any acceptances of saidat least one of a buy-out offer and partial buy-out offer furthercomprises that each of the players accepting the buy-out offer will nolonger be eligible to at least exclusively win an award, wherein each ofthe players not accepting the buy-out offer will remain eligible to winan award, and wherein each of the players accepting a partial buy-outoffer remains eligible to win at least a portion of an award.
 31. Awagering system including one or more wagering input devices forallowing the placement of a wager on a wagering event, the wageringsystem comprising: a system controller configured to communicate withthe one or more wagering input devices, said system controllerconfigured to: initiate the wagering event for one or more players;receive a wager via the one or more wagering input devices in responseto a player desiring to participate in the wagering event; initiate oneor more of at least one of a buy-out offer and a partial buy-out offerto any number of the one or more players before the wagering event hasbeen completed; and identify any acceptances of the at least one of abuy-out offer and partial buy-out offer.
 32. The wagering system ofclaim 31, wherein the one or more players are eligible to win an awardand the system controller is further configured to determine if any ofthe one or more players have won the award.
 33. The wagering system ofclaim 32, wherein the award comprises one or more selected from thegroup consisting of monetary awards, nonmonetary awards, a prize, apayment, a designated currency, virtual currency, tokens, credits,coupons, services, personal property, real property, virtual property,assets, investments, negotiable instruments, commodities, food, lodging,entertainment, alleviation of obligations, gaming opportunities andwager enhancement.
 34. The wagering system of claim 31, wherein thewagering event comprises one or more selected from the group consistingof sporting events, lotteries, real games, virtual games, live events,pre-recorded events, online events, broadcast events, slot machines,card games, keno, video games and racing.
 35. The wagering system ofclaim 31 wherein the wagering event and wager comprises one or more offixed odds single wagers, multiple wagers, full cover wagers, full coverwagers with singles, ‘Any to Come’ (ATC) or ‘if cash’ wagers, specialtywagers, forecasts, fixed, variable, guaranteed, parimutuel wagering,fixed-odds wagering, accumulator or parlay wagering, fixed odds, a pool,progressive, fixed pool, variable pool or guaranteed pool.
 36. A methodof conducting a wagering event for one or more players, wherein a playeris presented with at least one of a buy-out offer and a partial buy-outoffer prior to completion of the wagering event, the method comprisingthe steps of: providing one or more wagering input devices incommunication with a system controller through which one or more playersmay participate in a wagering event, said system controller beingadapted for: initiating the wagering event for one or more players;receiving a wager via the one or more wagering input devices in responseto a player desiring to participate in the wagering event; identifyingone or more players eligible to win from among players participating inthe wagering event; initiating at least one of a buy-out offer andpartial buy-out offer to any number of the one or more players that areeligible to win, said buy-out offer or partial buy-out offer beinginitiated at any time before the wagering event has been completed; andidentifying any acceptances of said at least one of a buy-out offer andpartial buy-out offer that have been initiated.
 37. The method of claim36, further comprising completing the wagering event and determining ifany of the players have won.
 38. The method of claim 37, wherein the oneor more players are eligible to win an award comprising one or moreselected from the group consisting of monetary awards, nonmonetaryawards, a prize, a payment, a designated currency, virtual currency,tokens, credits, coupons, services, personal property, real property,virtual property, assets, investments, negotiable instruments,commodities, food, lodging, entertainment, alleviation of obligations,gaming opportunities and wager enhancement.
 39. The method of claim 36,wherein the wagering event comprises one or more selected from the groupconsisting of sporting events, lotteries, real games, virtual games,live events, pre-recorded events, online events, broadcast events, slotmachines, card games, keno, video games and racing.
 40. The method ofclaim 36, wherein the wagering event and wager comprises one or more offixed odds single wagers, multiple wagers, full cover wagers, full coverwagers with singles, ‘Any to Come’ (ATC) or ‘if cash’ wagers, specialtywagers, forecasts, fixed, variable, guaranteed, parimutuel wagering,fixed-odds wagering, accumulator or parlay wagering, fixed odds, a pool,progressive, fixed pool, variable pool or guaranteed pool.